<Qualcomm Inc. may buy Cable & Wireless Plc's 49 percent in RTK Mobikom,
an analog mobile phone network operator majority-owned by BTC, 24 Hours
reported. Qualcomm may invest $200 million to build a digital network,
boosting the value of BTC before its sale, the paper said. >
Bulgaria Postpones Phone Company Sale to Next
Year, Paper Says
By Elza Vladimirova
Sofia, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Bulgaria will delay the sale of its national phone
company to 2002 because West European companies have spent too much
cash on new mobile phone licenses and acquisitions to bid this year, Sega
daily reported.
The sale of the sea and river fleets will also be put off until next year, the
newspaper said, citing Levon Hampartzumian, chairman of the country's
privatization agency.
The agency said last month it expected sales of state assets, including
Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. and the two fleets, to raise at least 640
million lev ($296 million). Many European phone companies such as Deutsche
Telekom AG, which borrowed $330 billion last year to expand, are selling
rather than buying new assets.
Qualcomm Inc. may buy Cable & Wireless Plc's 49 percent in RTK Mobikom,
an analog mobile phone network operator majority-owned by BTC, 24 Hours
reported. Qualcomm may invest $200 million to build a digital network,
boosting the value of BTC before its sale, the paper said.
Bulgaria has so far sold 51.4 percent of its state assets as part of a pledge to
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to either sell or close
unprofitable state-owned companies.
(Sega, 5/4/01, p. 8, segabg.com) (24 Hours, 5/4/01, p. 8) |
